I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, November 16, 2012

Cemetery Responsibilities

Maintained Cemetery

Well Kept Cemetery

It’s
a question that can be concerning, even confusing – Just who is responsible for a
cemetery’s upkeep?The answers
depend on many factors but the bottom line usually appears to be as follows:

Property Tax Form

Whoever
is paying the property taxes on the cemetery ground is the individual,
corporation, or entity that is responsible for it.

Digging a Grave

Broken Stone

Traditionally,
a cemetery’s responsibilities include the allotment and maintenance of the
grounds used for burials, and for grave preparation. The family would be
responsible for the care and repair of the tombstones.

Cemetery Owned By Bardstown

Charlotteville Cemetery

A
cemetery can be owned by an individual, a corporation, a church, a town, a
city, township, county, or state.And the laws will differ depending on the group or government agency that
owns a cemetery.

Cemetery Owned by Indiana Town

In
Indiana, if a township owns a cemetery, it must fence it, keep the ground
level, keep the weeds down, and straighten leaning tombstones.But, if a town, city, or county owns
the cemetery, then Indiana has no laws that describe how the cemetery should be
maintained or preserved.

Uncared for Cemetery

Church Cemetery

In
South Carolina, state laws do not tackle the legal responsibilities for
cemetery maintenance.An active
cemetery, one that is still being used for burials, should be maintained by its
owners.If the cemetery is
private, such as a church, organization, or family cemetery, the owners should
perform maintenance.But many
times these cemeteries are forgotten and abandoned.Bottom line in South Carolina, the family and descendents
are expected to care for the graves of their ancestors.

Cemetery Sign

Michigan
tries to establish ownership of its cemeteries.Historic cemeteries will have a sign posted that names the
entity in charge of the property.If a small cemetery has been abandoned in Michigan, it will become the
property of the current landowner.

An Illinois Cemetery

The
Illinois Cemetery Care Act states that there are two types of cemeteries in the
state, licensed and exempt.A
licensed cemetery is owned by a for-profit group, and falls under the
jurisdiction of the State Comptrollers Office.That means the cemetery owner is responsible for the care of
the cemetery, its lots, graves, mausoleums, memorials, and markers.

Exempt Cemetery

An
exempt cemetery is one that is owned by a non-profit group.The Illinois State Comptrollers Office
does not have legal jurisdiction over these cemeteries.However, “a cemetery maintenance
district can be established by petitioning the county commission or township
clerk for a tax levy to maintain and control the burial site.”This would place the care of the cemetery upon the county’s government.This also helps to lessen the
abandonment of cemeteries when individuals and groups cannot or do not continue
to care for them.

White Bronze Planter

Cemetery with a Lack of Funds

Cemeteries
are abandoned or “die” because there is no one left to care for them.This is usually the case in small family
cemeteries and in private, church, or organizational cemeteries.

Uncared for

Abandoned

A
cemetery may also be abandoned because of lack of money.If an older cemetery has reached
capacity and has no perpetual care funds to assist with the maintenance of the
grounds and stones, an owner may simply walk away and leave the site
unattended, and uncared for.

County Courthouse

County Offices

Where
should you go to locate the identity of a cemetery owner?Many times an inquiry at the local town, village, city,
township hall, or country clerks office will produce that name.The County Recorder of Deeds or the County Assessors Office can also provide a legal description of the property.

As
Benjamin Franklin so poignantly said, "Show me your burial grounds and I'll show you a measure of the civility of a community."

It is indeed in our society's best interest to keep our cemeteries well maintained and cared for, for they are the annals of our past and our present, describing just who we were to future generations.

About Me

I
love wine and will take any chance to sip, savor and share it! Hence, Joy’s JOY
of Wine http://joysjoyofwine.blogspot.com,
a weekly blog about all things wine. I've been in the industry for 15
years as a winery owner, marketing director, speaker, writer, wine judge, and
100% vino girl!

I'm
also a professional freelance magazine and book writer uncorking articles about
wine, food, history, travel, cemetery history and culture. My interest in
cemetery culture led to another great, or maybe I should say
"grave" gig, my weekly blog: A Grave Interest http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com where I get to travel around the country and speak about cemetery topics for genealogy, history and
education conferences.

I suppose you could say that wine is my
passion, and cemeteries are my diversion ... into another world.

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